Funky Planet

Keira

2011-04-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning my camera the other day and Keira was the only one home with me. She was fresh off of loosing another tooth. So that's what she is admiring in her fingers in the first shot.

You can see the nice gap in the last picture. That tooth hung on for dear life. Can you believe she will be 7 next month!

Kylie's Speech

2011-04-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

This week Kylie participated her school's Speech Fest contest. She was very excited to enter this year and spent all of Spring Break working on her speech. She worked so hard. She spoke on Geo Caching which has quickly become one of our family's favourite hobbies.

First she had to make it out of the classroom preliminaries. There were about 6 other classmates vying for 2 spots to speak in front of the school. She made it through and on Wednesday had the opportunity to speak in front of the whole school. Four kids from our school were then chosen to represent in the district wide speech fest, 2 primaries and 2 intermediates. Kylie was one of them!!

We were every proud and excited! So yesterday we loaded up the car with Grandparents, kept Keira home from school and off we went to the district speech fest. All 3.5 hours and 47 speeches of it!! Oh yes. That's right.

Lots of very interesting and entertaining speeches were heard and when the results came in, Kylie won second place in the primary division!! We are so proud of her! I felt she really deserved the win (of course) but not just because I am her Mom, but she really worked hard on it. Very hard. So I hope she learned a valuable lesson, hard work really does pay off!! Way to go Kylie!!

Turn up your volume and you can listen to her speech. I missed a wee bit of the beginning. Oops.

Here she is! The silver medal winner!

Silly Statues

2011-03-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

We made a little trip to the zoo yesterday with the Kirby kids and their Dad. My girls like to play statue as they run through the North American Wild section of the zoo. We come upon them along the trail, standing in a crazy pose. We make a silly comment about the statue, poke them or just keep walking. Usually they laugh before we get past them and then run ahead for another pose.

Yesterday they taught their friends the game.

First Day of Spring

2011-03-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Not only is this a first day of Spring post. It's the first blog post on this blog for 2011!!

The first day of Spring, brought the sun! We are craving the sun so badly. The rain seems endless lately and even flowers and blossoms that were in bloom this time last year are still curled up and hiding.

We hit the geo-caching trail with the Floyd Family along with another Twitter friend Vicki and went off to Burnaby lake. 5 adults and 5 kids we traveled the paths searching for treasure. 9 caches we found and lots of pictures were taken. Both Gwen and I armed with our macros, there were plenty of new growth, buds and even a frog waiting for us to photograph. Oh, yes there were a few pictures taken of the kids too, I have included those :) . Gwen and Anthony's little guy has a real liking for Keira and they held hands for most of the day. Sometimes Kylie jumped in too.

Last signs of old, bring in the new!

Kaylum was showing the ducks his little hippo. They weren't really interested.

Hand holding

Coordinate checking

Bush whacking

Classic Keira

Sandwich Monster

Goofy boys

"couple more meters"

Gingerbread House

2010-12-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

The annual decorating of the gingerbread house should be re-named, the half hour where Kaylum gorges himself on as much candy as he can shove in his mouth event. Because for the second year running, that's what he did!!

This year we bought the pre-assembled kit from Costco, which is awesome! The kids don't want to wait around for the walls to dry, they just want to slap on candy. I liked it because the walls don't always cooperate.

There was left over candy, you can see it in the picture above in the little bowl. In that little bowl Kaylum and Keira made "candy soup" where they mixed all the left over candy together, got out a spoon and did more shovelling. I can't believe they didn't barf and I can't believe I let them do it. They even ate their dinner after. Shocker. I know.

The tree is up!

2010-12-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

On Friday we made our fastest tree purchase EVER! It happened so fast because it was after 4pm when we got to the tree farm and I totally forgot, hey its winter, it gets dark at FOUR THIRTY!! HAHA! That's ok the kids picked it and its a great tree! It wasn't raining or snowing (the kids weren't happy about that). I had to tell them that if we waited to get our tree until it snowed, we may not get a tree! So because it was a spontaneous trip, there were no photos of our excursion and there are only a few of the decorating process, strange I know.

Disney on Ice

2010-12-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we took the kids to Disney on Ice. We haven't been since Kaylum was a baby so we were excited to get to go again. We were even more excited that it was held in Abbotsford at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Event Centre! It was so great to be able to see this kind of event without making the hour or so trip into Vancouver. In fact, it was probably better because the arena is smaller so even though you are in the "cheap seats" and higher up from the ice, you aren't as high up as you would be if you were watching it in the "cheap seats" at the Rogers Arena/GM Place, so really, the cheap seat were good seats! That's a mouthful!

In case you are interested, most of the photos I took of the characters on the ice, I took with my point and shoot and without my flash. Chances are if I used my flash, I would have lit up the head of the guy in front of me and may have had the characters show up dark. Your flash will illuminate the first thing it hits (which is usually the guy in front of you). The nice thing about this situation is, you don't need a flash. Those spotlights are perfect and give plenty of light. I did crank up my ISO to 800 so there is some grain. But I'd rather grain than flash.

Santa Breakfast

2010-12-06T19:26:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we hit the Santa Breakfast at the girls's school. The kids always love going and the pancakes are always super yummy. Santa comes and they get in a little visit and then run madly all over the gym with their little friends.

Kaylum's First Christmas Concert

2010-12-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Kaylum had his first concert for Pre-School on Thursday. We were so proud of how well he preformed. He was so excited to be on stage and kept asking me all day when was it time to go? I asked him to wear his Spiderman tie but he didn't want to. So I told him that Marmie would really like to see it. So he wore it and that's why he's proudly showing it off in the video.

30 Day Challenge | Day 30

2010-11-30T22:02:00.001-08:00

Well here it is, the last post. I didn't think I was going to get it done. I haven't taken a picture all day. In fact, I didn't get I could complete the challenge. I really thought I would have given up a couple weeks ago. Ok I didn't post every day, but I did better than I thought I would!

This afternoon as I drove by the tree out front I saw rain drops hanging of the Christmas light cord and I thought, oooooooh!! But it was POURING!!! So I left it, well that and I would have been late for school pick up. I'm glad I did wait because it stopped raining tonight and I got this interesting shot.

I shot it with my 50mm and a 20mm extension tube at 1.8 1/250 iso 3200

I like the bokeh the lights are giving. I'd like to try again with a tight aperture. Maybe another night.

30 Day Challenge | Day 28

2010-11-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Wow only 2 days left in the challenge!?! That means 2 more days till December. That means Christmas season my officially begin in the Funk house. And that I have 2 more days to get some advent calendars for the kids.

This was what we were up to today! No rain and not too cold, that means a perfect day to erect the lights of Christmas!

30 Day Challenge | Day 27

2010-11-27T16:23:00.000-08:00

I snapped this one quickly with my point and shoot just before the girl's competition this morning.

Keira placed 5th in one of her dances and Kylie got 2 second places and a 4th!! It was a good day :)

30 Day Challenge | Day 25

2010-11-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

Can't keep snow out of the photo of the day today! I did take a picture yesterday, I just never posted it. So here's 2!

My son loves eating snow. He sat out back just munching away this afternoon. When we told him not to eat the yellow snow, he simply answered, why?

My angel, making angels.

30 Day Challenge | Day 13

2010-11-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Its COLD!!!!!!!

30 Day Challenge | Day 21

2010-11-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

I spent the afternoon hanging out with some real monsters. Literally.

I was helping my friend Terri at the Make It Show selling her Monster Friends.

These are a couple shots of my favs. I think one of the things I love about the Monsters, is how each one has a personality! And no 2 monsters are alike!

When I got home this was waiting for me!

30 Day Challenge | Day 20

2010-11-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

Someone must have heard my complaint about a lack of flowers to photograph, so when Sean got home from work last night, there was a bouquet in his hands! So they are the subject of today's POTD!

This morning we went and visited Santa. Our friend who is a photographer and his wife make a weekend photo session with Santa. This is our 3rd year and it is so refreshing to see what pros our kids are with Santa. This is Kaylum's first year sitting alone with the man in red. While he's never cried, he was always a little unsure about him. But this year he went right up on his lap and told him what he wanted. A Go Diego Go backpack and Batman Bat Cave. The girls of course had no apprehensions getting on the big guy's knee. Kylie said she wanted an alarm clock and a tinker jewellery box and watch. Keira asked for a sparkly box, books and a video camera. Here's last year's pics.

30 Day Challenge | Day 19

2010-11-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

Its an exciting Friday here!

First up: today's photo. It a Christmas Cactus flower. I think they are really interesting flowers. The way they are constructed it really interesting.

Next up, snow!

I was very exciting here this morning. Especially for Kaylum. He doesn't rememeber our big snow dump 2 years ago and with the purchase of new snow boots, he couldn't wait for snow! So this morning I could here him yelling IT SNOWED! And promptly asked if it was Christmas now. That was followed by him running upstairs to tell me it snowed. Telling me to come see, and also I should put on some pants, so I could come see the snow. He tasted it everywhere we went today.

Sampling the front yard snow

Sampling snow from under his boot. Yes, under his boot.

Next up: the girls! They both were awarded today at their school assembly for being excellent (but of course). Kylie for academic achievement and social responsibility, which translates to helping her peers. Keira's was for excellent reading and writing. Her reading is super and she is one of the top in her class!!

30 Day Challenge | Day 18

2010-11-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well this is my 250 post to this blog. Its been running just short of 3 years.

I was trying to see what I could get with the texture of this peanut with my macro lens and the extension tubes. Unfortunately it was dark out so the natural light wasn't there for when I got in really close. My camera was creating a shadow and even with the flash going off it wasn't working.

So I created this guy, cuz that little string of hair at the top was calling for a face.

30 Day Challenge | Day 17

2010-11-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Oh I missed day 16. So today is a 2 poster. Normally I like macros of flowers but seeing they are all gone, I have moved on to fruit.

The focal point didn't fall in the right spot on this image but I thought the hair was rather interesting. It doesn't really look that hairy to the naked eye.

I also used some off camera flash with these shots. Just playing around. I was at a Joe McNally workshop last night so I'm a bit inspired.

30 Day Challenge | Day 15

2010-11-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

Day 15 brings a picture of a picture! A picture of the beautiful canvases I got today of our family pictures. These pictures were taken by my wonderful friend Jillian Kirby at the end of October. I just love all the colours in them and they look so awesome hanging in my living room. Of course they look way better in person.

30 Day Challenge | Day 14

2010-11-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

Day 14 is sparkly!

This is part of a decoration I have in my front hallway. I have a thing for sparkles this year. If its glittery, I want to take it home.

30 Day Challenge | Day 13

2010-11-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

OK Day 13 didn't get posted yesterday but here it is.

We were out along the dyke at Mud Bay geocaching and I came across this Eagle. I was bummed that I only had my point and shoot but I still think its a good shot.

30 Day Challenge | Day 12

2010-11-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's challenge didn't get done. So I made up for it today with 4 pictures.

The first 2 images are of a bamboo seed. I find them interesting to shoot cuz they are small and look so delicate and I like their shape. They are also really pretty with frost on them.

30 Day Challenge | Day 10

2010-11-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

This gem of a car is real and undrive-able. It lives at a car wreckers not too far from our house. I get a kick out of it and my son has recently noticed it so every now and then he asks me to drive past it.

I took this is my point and shoot and played around with some actions from Totally Rad Actions. The top is straight out of the camera, before the actions were applied and the bottom is the finished product. I don't tend to use lots of actions and if I do, I use them sparingly and at low opacity's. But this challenge is to have fun and learn so bring on 100% opacity! LOL!

30 Day Challenge | Day 9

2010-11-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

We shall call this one.........the experiment. Guesses on what it is?

I took this one with my 100mm macro lens with the 20mm extension tube attached.

30 Day Challenge | Day 8

2010-11-08T19:46:00.001-08:00

What weird weather today! A little rain here, a little sun there, a whole lot of rain and then beautiful clouds and an all too early sunset. 4:30 is way to early for the sun to set.

I snapped this one while driving over the overpass that goes over the Langley By-Pass. Every time I drive over it I want to stop and shoot. One day I will have to walk up it. Especially when the moon is full! Its pretty awesome.

So yeah point and shoot while driving. Shhhhhhh don't tell me Dad. Oh, he reads this blog. HA!

And cuz its Monday and we need a chuckle, I am posting a second picture of a mug I came across at Potters yesterday.

30 Day Challenge | Day 7

2010-11-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Is it Day 7 already!?

Here is today's shot! A beautiful red cup. I love the Christmas season at Starbucks! All the yummy flavours. This is a gingerbread latte. I have been resisting the cranberry bliss bar. Which, isn't easy to do.

We were out geo caching and I just liked the way the light was coming through the cloud and this small split rail fence so I put the cup down and took a shot.

f 1.4 1/4000 iso 100

taken with my 5D and 50mm 1.4 lens

Happy Sunday!

30 Day Challenge | Day 6

2010-11-06T23:08:00.001-07:00

Tonight's selection (and just under the wire I may add) is my stack of books on the bedside table. The top book is the one I'm reading, as is the bottom. The next 2 down I've started reading but never finished (not something I normally do, but hey, they are movies). The next 3 don't belong to me. I am pretty sure the Mr bottom 2&3 have been there a year. Of course other books come along that I would rather read and so these ones just live at the bottom of the pile. The only reason the photography book is at the bottom was for the picture. :)

I took this with my 5D 50mm lens at 1.4 (looooooooove 1.4) 1/16000 iso 1250 no reason for the high shutter or iso. Other than I cranked the iso cuz the only light on was the one on the table and I guess that provided ample considering how high the shutter speed was.

30 Day Photo Challenge | Day 5

2010-11-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long week here at my house. Even if Monday was a Pro-D day, well maybe it should say more like BECAUSE Monday was a Pro-D Day. Anyways, I documented my tub-time.
I took this with my iPhone. The app I used was instamatic. Its like a hipstamatic knock off. But you can get better composition with instamatic, so I like it a little better.

Happy Weekend!

30 Day Challenge | Day 4

2010-11-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is my Dad's old film camera. I guess you could say its the camera that started it all. It has a roll of film on it that I am slowly going through. Slowly.

I have picked up this camera many times in my life. The last time was about 9 years ago. I had no clue what a f stop was or the shutter speed and now that I do, well, I don't find taking pictures with it as satisfying as I do my digital camera. Still I can't wait to finish the roll and see what I get!

f 5.6 1/40 iso 1250

I ran it through photoshop to sharpen it. I used some the Totally Rad Action free b/w converter action, which is really no different than my own mix. I ran the TRA super fun happy action at 60% and then ran it through a Real Grain action. I thought given the camera's age, maybe it needed some grain.

30 Day Challenge | Day 3

2010-11-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna give you 2 today. Only cuz my effort was half assed. I have a cold. That's my excuse.

Wasn't today just beautiful? This first image is the tree in our front yard, almost naked. I love some sun flare.

The second is my dog. I have a talent for catching dogs with their tounges out. HA!

Both images were taking with my 5D 17-40 L lens (which I am so glad I didn't end up selling).

f 14 1/1000 iso 1000

In my own experience, f14 is the best aperture to give you that awesomely star shaped sun. In case you were wondering ;)

f 14 1/320 iso 1000

30 Day Challenge | Day 2

2010-11-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today's post comes direct from my backyard where there is a dark,damp and shady spot where I often find mushrooms growing. This little guy was part of a clump.

I have been experimenting with my newly acquired extension tubes and my wide angle and macro lenses.

This shot I took with my Canon 5D, 17-40 mm L lens and a 20mm extension tube. It was hand held and my neck now tells me I need a 45 degree view finder.

f 6.3 1/200 iso 1600 at 40mm

30 Day Photo Challenge | Day 1

2010-11-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Its been a super long time since I posted, almost 6 months!!! But I have decided to take a 30 day photography challenge put on by my friend Matt Hawkins.

So for the month of November I will be posting again!

Here's today's post. It comes from the Greater Vancouver Zoo. I took the kids today to wear off some sugar on their Pro D Day. We were the only ones there as it RAINED! Ok it wasn't when we got there but it did while we were there.

I took this picture with our new point and shoot camera. A Panasonic Lumix, it has 14 MP! Pretty impressive or a PS!

The image on the left I took w/ the flash, much by accident. I hate flash and I am not use to the automatic one on the camera. The image on the left I took without flash. Both images were taken on the automatic setting, because is only setting it has! LOL!

Determination

2010-05-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Keira is determined to get this wiggly tooth of her's out. The unfortunate part is, its wiggly.

Not ready yet.

I'm NOT Bakerella

2010-05-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

If you know who Bakerella is, well then you have drool on your keyboard too from looking at all the yummy treats she features on her site! Hello! Pudding cups, CHEESECAKE!! Oh yeah.

Well these little gems caught my eye and I thought they would be a great thing to try for Keira's birthday.

I knew I needed chocolate bark to make the outer shell of the cake ball so I made a trip to the US to get some, cuz Canada doesn't sell this. Apparently the US doesn't sell in between January and November. Crud. So I used Candy Melts instead and it was just fine. I was weary of the pink as the flavour was really strong when melted (I tasted. A. Lot.) but today they were just fine.

As a side note, I went to Fred Meyer on my bark buying mission and picked up the cake mix for $1.00!! The icing was around $1.25! YEEESSS!!

The whole process took about 3 hours. Its a tedious job but I am happy with results. They were a big hit with the kids and the adults at Keira's party! No one had cake on a stick before!!

Here's Bakerella's version:

Here's mine:

This job takes practice. I think I may practice next on cheesecake pops! Oh yes, I said Cheesecake pops!

Crazy Hair

2010-05-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

While we were away at being on TV, it was Daddy's job to take care of the girl's hair for school. Sean always said he couldn't do their hair, but this was excessive! This is how it came out!

No really, it was crazy hair day at school. I think Sean did a pretty good job at crazy hair! I put Keira's hair in sponge rollers and Kylie in tiny braids the night before. They had lots of great looks and Keira won the craziest award for her class!

And, well, what the girls get, Kaylum gets. He was a big hit walking around the mall.

We were on TV!!

2010-04-27T12:53:00.001-07:00

I really meant to blog this a couple weeks ago, but I forget so easily about this blog. So here is the adventure of Kaylum being a toddler fashion show model on TV!! All the pictures are from my iPhone.

I answered a request from Christine at Vancouver Mom for toddlers to be on a local morning TV show's fashion segment for toddler fashion. It required us to be in Vancouver for 7am, so I thought, woah, maybe not. But then Christine got stuck so I said YES!!

Thankfully Sean took the day off so we could go down to the City TV Studios. It meant a 4:30AM wake up call for me. Ugh. Thankfully Kaylum's 7am bedtime snagged him 10hrs of sleep and he was good to go at 5:15am.

We had some time to wait before we went on TV, here's Kaylum eating cookies and watching Seasame Street in the green room.

Kaylum clothes he got to model were from Appaman. Super cute! The jeans were my favourite! And he had a pair of cute Converse to wear on his tootsies.

Round 1 of the Canucks playoff run was on when we were there and it was game day. So the Green Guys were there. If you watch hockey, you know what I am talking about. Kaylum wasn't to happy with these guys and this was the closest we could get to them, despite Aunty's text message requests to get a picture with Kaylum and the Green Guys. Note: This picture was taken from inside the studio, like I said, as close as we could get.

Breakfast TV is a live show. Here we are waiting for our segment. There were 4 other kids in the segment with us. Kaylum was the oldest. If you watch the clip, you can tell he's not a stranger to a camera in his face! LOL!

The experience was fun! Even if the morning started when I usually get up for a bathroom trip and go back to sleep. Christine was nice enough to give Kaylum his shoes which he reffers to as Chucks like any good boy with street cred should. HAHA. He gets lots of compliments on them!

Kaylum fell asleep on the way home.

And of course, if you want to watch our debut, click on the link below! Enjoy!

http://video.citytv.com/video/detail/80127122001.000000/baby--toddler-fashion/

Closed

2010-03-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more sad to a 2 1/2 yr old boy than a closed toy store.

Brusha Brusha

2010-03-20T20:51:00.001-07:00

Kaylum loves to brush his teeth all by HIMSELF! He really does need Mommy/Daddy help/supervision though.

Bye Bye Tooth!

2010-03-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we picked the kids up from my parents house and Keira informed us that she had 2 loose teeth! She has been waiting soooooo long to finally have her teeth loose. Kylie has lost 8 teeth already and some of Keira's friends have already started to loose their' s. She was beginning to think it was never going to happen for her. Well yesterday it did!

The one to the left is well on its way to coming out as well and you can see the adult teeth are up pretty high already.

The tooth fairy came and was nice enough to leave some money AND Keira's tooth. She said she's going to wait until the other tooth comes out to spend her money so she will have more!

OH! The big scratch is courtesy of her brother. He scratches when he's frustrated.

Olympic Adventures

2010-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

The girls were off school yesterday so I thought we should take advantage of the gorgeous sun and head back into Vancouver. I thought my Olympic curiosity would have been settled with our trip in the week before the games began, but it wasn't. I have a little bit of Olympic fever!

So I left Kaylum with my parents and picked up my sister and we heading into the city on the Sky Train. It was the girls first time on it and they were loving it!

I had heard about the massive lines all weekend and I was a little unsure what Monday would bring. We didn't have a plan but I knew we wouldn't be waiting in any lines. Its just not do-able with kids. So we wandered.

This is Granville Street. There are so many little paper lanterns in the trees, I have seen pictures of them at night. Beautiful!

There are all sorts of welcome signs throughout the city.

Fun silhouettes. Still on Granville St.

This is the zip line over Robson Square. There were reports of 6-7 hour waits for this free ride. The ride lasts 30 seconds.

Posing with what I think are robot clowns.

They put on a fun show in Robson Square.

The one thing we did wait to see was the mascot show. The kids are really into the mascots. They each have one of their own. The wait was 1 1/2 hours but we were right at the railing so we got front row. I think it made our whole trip into the city worth while.

Miga

Keira says, Girls love Miga.

Quatchie

Kaylum calls his Quatchie doll, Crotchie.

Sumi

The girls got hugs from all the mascots, but Miga's hug was the best!

Outside the Russian's hotel. These are the mascots for the 2014 games in Sotchi.

I heard if you went to the Royal Bank that you could pose with the torch. This was the best we could do, the lady went home for the day that takes care of that. We did get some Olympic loonies and quarters though (another line up).

The cauldron. Its such a disappointment to see it behind all this chain link. But they line was incredible to get to the observation deck. And the girls weren't really thrilled with it in the first place. So I poked my camera through and got a shot. We were there. HAHA.

I do have some other images on my other blog if you haven't had a chance to look. Head on over! CLICK ME!

Happy Birthday Kylie!

2010-02-05T10:54:00.001-08:00

I am a bad blogger Mom. Here is is almost a week after Kylie's Birthday and I am finally finishing her birthday post.

Happy Birthday Kylie! 7 wow! There is a lot of Olympic talk at our house lately and I was telling Kylie that I remember hearing the announcement that we won the Olympic bid, she was just a baby! And now here we are a week after celebrating her 7th birthday, they are here. This of course really has nothing to do with Kylie. Just the fact that time flies! You are growing up so fast!

We celebrated with Kylie's friends at The Great Escape! Oi! There were 13 kids at our party plus a million others there. Running, screaming, sweating and having a great time. They all really enjoyed themselves.

After we headed up to one of Kylie's favourite restaurants with most of our family for some yummy pasta and came back to the house for more cake and presents. What an afternoon!

Big Boy Bed!!

2010-01-29T12:20:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago Kaylum figured out how to escape from baby jail, aka his crib. We knew it was coming, both girls were just over 2 when they made the leap, but we were dreading that last little bit of baby-hood going. OK, truthfully, I was dreading giving up the only place that held the boy in one spot for hours on end. Now he has free reign to roam the house!

So on Sunday while Sean was working I pulled out the toddler bed from the crawl space and slapped it together. This bed has accommodated all 3 of our kids, in either our house or my parents.

Kaylum is soooo happy to have a Big Boy bed! He asks me to come upstairs with him to look at his bed. And he loves being able to get in and out.

This week has gone well with the transition. We were fearful as Kylie's transition was horrible and Keira's was easy. Kaylum's has been middle of the road. He gets out some nights, he falls out some nights and he sleeps well other nights. He gets up and torments the girls in the morning and this morning, I caught him and Kylie reading books together in it!

So bye bye babyhood. The only thing left are diapers.....and we are working on that!

Robbie Burns

2010-01-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

On Friday the girls were invited to dance at a Robbie Burn Luncheon for my old dancing teacher's school. We went off to the Dogwood Pavilion to dance for the seniors there. It was a nice program with some toasts, piping and of course dancing. There probably was Haggis, but that was before we got there.

The girls are always a hit with the seniors. And well, how can they not be? Look how cute they are! They also got to dance with the Mayor of Coquitlam! I thought that was pretty neat. They didn't really understand. Mayor Stewart was a great sport getting up on stage with the girls. You can tell he was very serious and concentrating hard on the steps (see his tongue sticking out?).

The girls also danced at another Burn tea on Friday for our dance school but I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. They were stars of that show as well and when we left and walked past all the seniors, they clapped for them. So cute!!

Hot Wheels

2010-01-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

We are now a Hot Wheels family. "Play cars?" is a common question around here these days and my parents have gladly obliged Kaylum with Christmas gifts of cars and tracks. My Dad insists there are too many "girl toys" in our house and I suspect he is trying to balance things out!

Avatar

2010-01-24T17:53:00.001-08:00

Have you seen Avatar yet??

Sean and I went and it was fabulous! It was our first 3D movie and wow! I've seen the 3D shows at Disneyland but this was different. The 3D was almost subtle, by that I mean they weren't intentionally hurling things at your face to get a reaction. After awhile you almost forgot about the 3D. I absolutely recommend seeing it. But buy your tickets early!

Bubbles!

2010-01-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

This is an activity that Kaylum can't get enough of. Whenever we have the sink full of water to do dishes, he's there with a chair helping us (ok mainly Sean). He loves wiping and dumping water from one place to another. And of course, soaking the floor. This is where those Sham Wows! come in handy!

Bright Nights

2009-12-05T22:51:00.000-08:00

Most years we make the trek into Stanley Park to enjoy the Bright Nights displays. We didn't go last year as it was bitterly cold and Kaylum was a bit young. So this year we were all excited to go. Of course Kaylum was extra excited because it involved a train and he kept jumping up and down saying YEAH!! Train ride! Train ride!

We made a stop for dinner at a very yummy restaurant that is a favorite of Sean and mine, Shabusen. Its an all you can eat sushi and Korean BBQ house. Soo awesome and good. If you ever get a chance to go, do it! The kids had never been before so we were excited to take them. But they didn't seem that excited to be there. In fact they barely ate. Kylie was not feeling so great and Keira was more interested in drawing with the wee pencil they gave us to make our food selections. Wait, we took Kaylum, he ate enough for the 3 of them, never mind.

This is out front of St Paul's Hospital. It was amazing and so beautiful.

There was a bit of traffic we had to wait through. While we were waiting at long lights, Kylie suggested we just go around and Kaylum suggested, to go faster Daddy, go faster! We finally got into the park with about an hour til our train time. We buy our tickets in advance so we are guaranteed a ride. We learned this the hard way one year. Thankfully it was when Kylie was a baby so there was only adult disappointment that night. We took the kids into the petting zoo and Kaylum just gave us the best look, it sort of said, hey what the hell? This isn't the train ride!! But he enjoyed looking at all the animals and birds. The girls we so excited to see everything and took over my camera for awhile. I guess the lights inspired them!

This is my favourite tree in the park. Its huge and well wrapped with lights.

Kylie took this one. She likes the motion in it.

A kind stranger took this one for us. See, if you take pics of others, one day someone will take one of you!

The wait for the train was 45 minutes. It wasn't too bad as it was continually moving, but we didn't wait that long for a ride in Disneyland! Maybe there should be a Bright Nights Fast Pass system :o)

BC Hydro display

Frosty!

I took my point and shoot so, quality suffers but its about memories! And we had a great night and the kids had fun. I am glad it wasn't any colder than it was!

Visit with Santa.

2009-11-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

Last year my friend Marci and Kevin set up a little Santa visit photo session in their house. What a great idea! No mall, no rush and NO LINE UPS!! It went so well, they did it again this year. So off we went today to visit with Santa.

Kaylum and I had a little practice run earlier this week with board-mall-Santa. He wasn't getting anywhere near Santa or letting me put him down. But he did talk to him and learned a very big life lesson, Santa=Candy Canes!! Just wait until he learns Santa=Presents!

Today was no different with photo-session-Santa. Kaylum clung to Sean and didn't want down. He talked to Santa and the girls were happy to get up on Santa's lap. Keira wants a Hannah Montana Barbie and a Ballerina Lamb and Kylie wants a microscope and a Polly Pocket hospital. Kaylum told Santa he wanted a puzzle. I love that, because he remembered from last week when we were in Wal Mart and he saw a puzzle with Buzz and Woody (his current favs) on it and he wanted it. I told him to ask Santa for it and he did!

Here are a couple images from the session. I really like this idea. No stress and no tears.

WHOA!

2009-10-23T21:03:00.001-07:00

Did I just blog 3 times? Oh wait. Now its 4! LOL!

Child Labour

2009-10-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

I was playing with my flash and thought I would capture this lovely moment between father and son: replacing the weather stripping. I'm not gonna lie, it was damn cute!

Spider Man!

2009-10-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Turns out Spiderman really loves blueberries and making muffins! Who knew!
He also likes to go to school to pick up his sisters.

Trains!!

2009-10-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

On Thanksgiving Monday we took the kids to Confederation Park in Burnaby to ride the miniature trains. Being that Kaylum L-O-V-E-S trains, he hated the whole adventure. Kidding. It was the last weekend for the train rides and its was a beautiful sunny day, so we figured we better take advantage. It was $2.50 each to ride, Kaylum was free and the ride lasted about 15 minutes. It was great! There were all sorts of different engines to be seen and the best part was no line-up. We took a picnic of left-over turkey sandwiches and ate lunch at the picnic tables there.

After the train we headed over to Rocky Point in Port Moody. I had never been there before and I have been missing out! What a beautiful spot at the end of Burrard Inlet. I can see why Grandmama is there almost every day! We even saw a seal! I have been told, sometimes you can see jellyfish too! There's a great playground and waterpark there as well.

He's 2!

2009-09-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

We all say it: time flies, they grow so fast, where does the time go? And now I say it all that again because today we celebrate Kaylum's 2nd Birthday! WOW!

He told me today he was a "big boy" when I asked if he was my baby. "No baby, Big Boy!" *sigh* and that he is. He's is such a little man who is just so awesome. He's busy as any little boy is. He gets into things his sisters never did and keep us on out toes at all times. He loves his naps and often asks to go for one, which I am always happy to oblige him on. He speaks so well and can string about 4 words together. His vocabulary is amazing and he says the best things. He can say both the girl's names but not his own. He knows the way to Papa and Marmie's house and loves spending time there building trains with them. Trains are his favorite, along with airplanes and big trucks. Machinery fascinates him but he will still play Barbies, Polly Pockets and dress up with his sisters. The best thing about Kaylum is when he throws his arms around my neck and gives me the biggest, hardest hug ever. And it lasts for a long time. What a precious little guy.

Kaylum was very excited about his birthday, even though I know he didn't understand what it meant. He said this morning, MY BIRTHDAY! And when you ask how many, he holds 2 fingers up and says TWO. I put some balloons up and he loved that. The girls have been talking about it with him for so long, he can even sing the Birthday song! Tonight we had Meet the Teacher night at school, so we popped over to do that. I picked up some cupcakes today to have after dinner as the real party is on Sunday. So we did that when we got back and had a small gift opening as well. As you can see the cupcakes, well the icing, was a big hit. Most of the cake part was left after he was done.

Back to School

2009-09-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

What's this? A new blog post?? It seems I took the summer off from my personal blog.
The summer was busy for us, lots of adventures and lots of photography for me, so this baby got a little neglected.

This week was back to school. Grade 2 and Kindergarten. WOW! The girls were really looking forward to going back to school and seeing their friends.
Keira will be in full-day K but not for a couple weeks. They have a gradual entry, and its a little too gradual if you ask me. She only went for a hour all week. I think its a little silly myself seeing that she was going for 3 hours to pre-school.

Kylie is in Grade 2 and is getting use to having new friends in her class and old friends in others. She seems to have found her old friends on the play ground, so she's happy about that. She has 2 teachers this year who job share. I haven't experienced this before, so we shall see. This week was spent in review and re-arranging classes so come Monday it will be down to work. I tell you, its sure a different experience than when we were in school. None of this limbo stuff for the first week while numbers and class sizes are sorted out.

So I had to post all these pictures. Look how much they have grown in 3 years!

2006
Keira 2 1/2

2007
First Day of Pre School

2008
First day of 4 yr old Pre School

2009
First day of Kindergarten

2006
First Day of Pre School

2007
First day of 4 yr Pre School

2008
First day of Grade 1

2009
First day of Grade 2

Hot Hot Heat

2009-07-30T21:57:00.001-07:00

These last 2 days have been record breaking heat in the Lower Mainland. Its been hot! Way toooo hot. Yesterday Abbotsford was 38 degrees! That's right! Hotter than Mexico. Our house has gotten up to 31 and our games room over the garage is registering close to 40! We don't go in there. I am writing this from the backyard, where I have been getting eaten alive all week in the evening because its the only place I can stand to be.

The girls were in dance camp this week for their Highland and enjoyed it, thankfully it was over before the really hot part of the day. The rest of the day has been spent very lazily. The heat has just zapped us. We have been having little outings in the evening to cool off. Mostly an excuse it go in the air conditioned van. We were at the mall tonight, yesterday it was the indoor pool, the night before a slurpee run and a drive. I hope there is a break from this heat soon.

On a brighter note, I am managing to keep my garden somewhat alive in this heat and have actually produced some cherry tomatoes out of a pot container. The tricky part is not having Kaylum eat them before they are ready. I took this image tonight just after I watered. The flower is supposed to attract butterflies, I am still waiting.

Not so Super of a Store

2009-07-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

You've seen the commercials, the one where one of the richest men in Canada happily tries to sell us rice and ice cream and make us think that his store is reason to switch supermarkets for. Makes us think he's a regular guy, just like you and me. But I wonder, has he ever shopped in one of his stores? Has he ever had to stand through a long and pointless price check while his children want to leave? Has he ever experienced the "service" his front end staff provide to customers? I think no. Or perhaps yes and he is a heartless bastard who doesn't give a crap about service, as long as the money keeps rolling in and those commercial spots have us all fooled.

I don't generally frequent this store anymore. Lately its because Wal Martin hasn't had any stock of the diapers I like. So on Wednesday I packed up the 3 and off we went. I don't generally grocery shop with all 3 any more, there are advantages to school apart from learning stuff.
There were some bumps in the trip, hands on other people's bodies, hair pulling, cookie and snack requesting. The usual stuff. So by the time we were done the gather of the groceries, they kids were done. Well I always forget to budget in for time the check out. It was rather busy that day and there was a good 4 people deep in each line up. Great. The cashier I choose was mid-price check when I got in line. Didn't think this would be a problem, but it took 10 minutes. The lady who was buying it turned and apologized and I shrugged. Its not her fault, but I was secretly hoping she would just say leave it so we could get the show on the road.
The price check system is so flawed there. They shouldn't have to come to a grinding halt to get a price.
So on we go to the person in front of me. I am starting to hear things about the debit machine. Bad things. Like debit is down. But the lady in front of me paid no problem. Well I pulled the short straw that day because debit did not work for me, nor did credit. Now I am unhappy. "Would you like to go to the bank machine?" "Well I guess I don't have a choice" So gather up my children and truck over to the machine. Luckily there is no wait, because everyone behind me has to wait til I get back with the cash for the transaction to be finished before the line moves again. I hand over the cash, put Kaylum back into the cart (the last place he wants to be) find a snack in my purse to occupy him and finish packing my groceries.
This annoying beeping starts to come from the girl's till, the till is jammed and won't open for her to get my change. WHAT!? I just want to pay and go. I am beyond mad now. The girl is just standing there stunned. I said, "Can you call someone?" She says, "They won't come." I said, "How do you know, you haven't called them!!!"

Then I started getting lipped off by a lady in the line up. "Its not her fault!" She says. "Yes I know, but standing there isn't going to solve the problem." We went back and forth a few times before she finally tells me she's done with me.

So now we are standing there, my groceries packed, my son climbing out of the cart and this stunned cashier holding $220 in one hand and her other hand on her head. So call someone!!! Paige someone!!!! She doesn't.

Why I just didn't leave then, I don't know. She had my money, albeit $12 more than the bill, but I could have just left. I paid, right. Well I didn't. I went over to get the front end supervisor to open her til. "Oh I can't. If the till is jammed, I can't do anything." She told me to wait until she was done checking an customer and we can see what she can do. No. Now I am so mad and frustrated I am shaking. The kids were angels through all this. That was awesome. I walked back to the cart and proceeded to dump out my groceries on the lane and asked for my money back. The people behind me, started packing up their cart to move lanes. Kylie was rather confused why I did this.

So after getting cash, paying $1.50 sevice charge at their ATM for the cash I couldn't use, I walked over to customer service for my $1.50 back and to talk with the store manager. By now the store is in chaos. The whole debit/credit system is down and there is a giant line at the ATM. The supervisors are making lovely announcements about this debit not working, but its no good to those already stuck at a till. Customers are pissed and just walking away from lanes and their groceries.

I am thinking to myself, I have already invested an hour and a half into this trip and now I have to go and do it all again!?! UGH! The manger came down and I explained what happened to him, he asked where my groceries were. Over there on the lane. "Oh no, no. That's no good! Don't leave," he tells me. He calls someone to come over and gather my groceries and to check me out at the customer service till. Well clearly she has a comprehension problem (I'm being facetious). "Where are your groceries?" She asks while looking at my cart and very confused. AAAHHH!! Now I am done, so mad that the tears are about to come out, but I won't let them because its just stupid groceries. The manager slowly went over his instructions again to her and assured me that the original cashier would be dealt with later. All the while I am getting dirty looks from that cashier and her front end supervisor, probably because she knows she's gonna get dealt with too.

So this lady that has been assigned to help starts loading the groceries in my cart. The EMPTY shopping bags were on the bottom level, so she felt in necessary to cram everything on the top level. UGH! She checks me out and I re-pack everything, all the while thinking, I've already DONE THIS! The store manager comes over again to apologize, reassure me there will be a reprimand and sent another nice lady over to help me to the car. I refused, its easy sailing now. But he insisted, "Take care of your kids." She was really nice and even loaded the groceries into the van for me. Total time from entering the line to getting in the van, 1 HOUR!! That's right. 2 pm! Way past lunch time and way past nap time. Good thing I have good kids. They were really patient through that while extra 45-50 minutes it took to check out. Thank goodness!! Otherwise I probably would have cried.

So, this real Canadian StupidStore can stick it! I am never shopping there again. And while I appreciate what the manager did, in the end, its not going to change anything. He's been managing well over 10 years, I know, he was my store manager when I worked there. And unless there is some massive policy overhaul, they will not change the way their service towards customers is.

So I ask Mr Weston, are you proud of how your company runs? Do you care, something must be right if you are one of the richest men in Canada? Should we care that we get no service but your prices are good? Is this Karma coming back to me for my lack of service some 10 years ago?

Pretty Nails

2009-07-10T20:05:00.001-07:00

Someone was a little grumpy after his nap today and while painting his sister's nail, he got quite upset that he wasn't included in this. So.....

Daddy was a witness, albeit he was on the phone. Here's pretty prince enjoying some dessert tonight.

Canada Day

2009-07-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

I had a shoot in Steveston on Canada Day and the girls we dying to go to some Canada celebrations so I took everyone along with me. While I shot at the Britannia Shipyard, Sean took the kids over the the Salmon Festival for a wander around. By the time I met up with them there were tons of people in the community center field and it was feeling more like a party than a family festival so we left after buying some ice cream.

We wandered over to this corner where there was some shade and nice grass and the kids ate their ice cream, climbed a tree and had some fun running around. It was really windy, really windy. I wish we brought our kites. We had more fun on that corner than inside the festival.

After that we went to Hon's House of Noodles. We hadn't been there since last year and it was just as delicious as the first time. Again we ordered too much but it made for another great dinner on Thursday night!

Some pretties before my shoot

Happy Canada Day!

The kids were sufficiently tattooed when I got back to them!

This is Kaylum's version of thumbs up "right on"

Breathing is over-rated. Hard thing to do with 3 on top of you!

Competition

2009-07-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we hit the BC Highland Games competition in Coquitlam. It was the girls first out door competition and it was a warm one! We had a collection of supporters with us that morning, Grandparents and even Great Grandparents came out to watch the girl's second competition.

The girls did well, Keira danced 2 dances and Kylie 3. Both didn't place this time, but the classes were huge this time so the competition was fierce. Well as fierce as it gets for the 5-7 crowd. They had fun and that's all that matters.

We would have liked to check out more of the games and shown the kids the pipe bands but it was hot and Sean had a chiro appointment, so we left as soon as we had the results.

Kaylum's First Dentist Appointment

2009-07-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of my little guy! Yesterday was his first dentist appointment and he was fabulous! The girls have been going regularly for a couple years now. So when they called to book them in, I made an appointment for Kaylum too. They said we'll just get him in the chair and get him comfortable. Sure, no problem.
The girls had their appointments first and then Kaylum went in. He climbed right up on the chair and gave us a big smile!

Of course he has his cheer leading squad with him (aka big sisters) so he was very comfortable and happy. The hygienist said we'll just put the bib on and see how he is. I told her, you go as far as he will let you, which I think will be all the way.

She clearly did not believe me but when we got to this stage of the exam, she was just taken a back. How did you get all 3 of your kids to do so great at the dentist!? She asked.

She polished, flossed, rinsed and sucked. Each step she asked Kaylum's permission and he replied with a simple, Uh huh. She just couldn't get over him and how well he did. I knew he would be fine. I know the hygienist was relieved he was.

Aldergrove Lake

2009-07-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Or like my Dad calls it, Aldergrove hole. It is a man made lake, it has always had an undesireable reputation and prehaps that is why they layed rock around the lake this year, to clear up the murkyness of the water. But its close to home and the kids love it. The rock is just crappy and really dissapointing, I hope the parks department change their mind. Its hot and really hurts the feet. The water is no longer brown, but dark green. Ok maybe less murky, but I would rather have sand for the kids to play in.

We went with our friends. This is our 3rd summer for making these day trips together. 7 kids in all and they all get along great! This is Kaylum's first summer being able to play in the lake. You notice that he has a life jacket on. Not something I really like to do, but he's a nut and loves the water. So a little extra safety never hurt.

I got a bunch of these floaty rings at Superstore in 2006 for $1!! Can you believe they are still going strong! In fact I still have 3 in packages.

Kaylum and his Vikki. He loves her so much!

This one cracks me up!

OK, I thought of one nice thing about the rocks, it holds your umbrella up really well!

Ice Cream!!

2009-07-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last week after school was out we went for a little drive over to the Birchwood Dairy in Abbotsford for an after school treat of ice cream! I had never been there before but have heard many good things about it. And it didn't dissapoint. They have an awesome selection of ice cream and other dairy products and some other items you would typically find at a market. They also had some animals and swing and of course some fun tractors to sit on. The kids had a blast and we certainly will be back!

Kids love really blue ice cream

They had little baby cones for those under 3. Perfect for Kaylum

Cherry came with us too, she almost stayed too. We aren't use to her making trips with us anymore, Keira has slowly become detached from her.

Fun swing shots. They were pretty high off the ground so I could lay under them with out getting kicked.

Sports Day

2009-06-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today was Kylie's very first sports day! She was very excited to get to school this morning. I think Sean and I hyped her up a bit too with all our reminising from our sports days.
We arrived at school this morning and the kids broke into their colour teams. We went from station to station, starting at the freezie station!
Keira got to participate as well as they were short one kid on the yellow team. She had a blast and really wanted to stay all day.
Kaylum enjoyed himself too, he did a good job at stealing various pieces of equipment from the stations and moving around various items of importance!

It all began at the freezie station

Onto some relays

Sack races

He climbed in himself! No racing though.

Tuesday's Adventure

2009-06-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met with a great photographer, Tracey Heppner to have some new head shots done. What a fabulous time we had in Gastown! There are some great places to shoot down there and I can't wait to take some of my clients.

So have a look at the finished product! I just love how they turned out.
Thanks Tracey!

Wordless Wednesday | Roller Coasters |

2009-06-10T16:51:00.001-07:00

Bears

2009-06-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Sean and the girls were eating lunch today while I was at a shoot and Keira says, "the most important thing to do when you go camping you must ask "is there any bears out there?" if they don't answer, you are ok, if they do answer, then you are in trouble"

She's dead right!

Disneyland | Day 3 |

2009-05-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

Keira's 5th Birthday! What kid wouldn't love love love to spend their birthday in Disneyland!!!

We started the day off with a very early breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. It was a 7:50 am sitting and we had a big walk ahead of us. Made for a very early morning, very hard at home, even harder on vacation. We had a little gift opening in the hotel room and then headed towards the Disneyland hotel.

They took our picture with Pluto before seating us.

Goofy's Kitchen is a buffet with lots of yummy foods. All sorts of breakfast foods. Mickey shaped waffles, peanut butter and jam pizza (sooo good), eggs benedict, made to order omletes, and of course tons of desserts!

The only challenge when eating here, is that the characters come to your table, so you are often too busy taking pictures to eat. So your breakfast gets cold. The characters that came to visit were Goofy (of course), Chip and Dale, Brier Bear, Pluto and Mulan.

They brought Keira and Sam birthday cupcakes and sang them Happy Birthday!

We also ordered a cake for Keira. It came in a pink treasure box with a magic mirror.

After breakfast we heading into the park via the Monorail. Keira was dying to ride on this and Kaylum got pretty excited about it too.

First ride of the day was the Autotopia. I had never been on this ride before and boy did we laugh. Keira was steering and I had my foot on the gas. She was bumping into the track and laughing so hard which made Sean and I laugh hard. It was fun. Kylie and Dad were riding in the car behind us.

We all went on Its A Small World. It has been re-done in the last year or so. Not too sure what they did to it. LOL! I think they added Disney characters to the diplays. The kids liked it. All I can say is, you either love it or hate it. Me: the latter.

Next stop, Toon Town.

The kids had some much fun in Toon Town. Lots of neat things to touch and wander through and sit on.

My birthday girl! I can't believe she is 5!

The fun thing about this trip was that I rode on thing that I hadn't ridden on before because I thought they were "kid rides". There was actually a lot that we hadn't ridden on. The Tea Cups was one. Not because of the kid factor, but the whole spinning factor. But we went on and made it with not barfing! I was focused on Keira's button the whole time and there was no extra spinning!

Lolipop break!

We left the park early that day, we were all getting cranky by 2. We were up so early and were feeling it. We also weren't planning on spending as much time after breakfast in the park so we weren't as prepared with snacks, etc. We had some lunch and went back to the room for a rest. Well Kaylum rested in the stroller, so he wasn't about to rest again. Thankfully Sean took him for a wander around the hotel grounds while the rest of us rested.

After our rest we headed back to the park for the Celebrate parade. Such a fun parade! Lots of characters and actors singing and dancing.

Sam got lots of attention because she had her birthday button on.

Keira enjoyed a bird's eye view of the parade!

We hit the Buzz Lightyear ride after the parade. The kids had a blast on this one. You hold laser guns and hit targets and earn points. Kaylum rode with us and he even managed a score!
We made it back to the room before the fireworks and could sort of see them from our room. But boy could you hear them! I think they were exploding right over the hotel and every time they banged Kaylum would say, UH OH!

Disneyland | Day 2 |

2009-05-28T12:17:00.003-07:00

Its not my intentions to keep such a distance between blog posts. But life gets so busy, well you know the story.

So Day 2, the big day! We were all very excited to get to the park. But first we had to pack up. We were moving to our new adjoining room. So we had to pack everything back up and store it for the day until our rooms were ready. Kylie complained, this is taking up our Disneyland time. Yes, she was right. But once we got into our new room, it was soooo worth it!

We finally made our way to the park after having some lunch at the IHOP across the street. I think it was almost 11:30 am by the time we got there. The kids were excited and so were we. Oh, and it was my sister's 31st birthday! We all got badges saying "I'm Celebrating" and Keira and Sam got ones that said "Happy Birthday". Whenever we passes a Disney worker or random stranger they would wish them a Happy Birthday!

The first thing we did was ride the Disneyland Railroad. It took us full circle around the park and the kids got to see what Dinseyland was all about. Kaylum loved the train. Choo Choo! He would get very excited when he heard the train whistle and start dancing around.

(this is Sam's picture, I stole off facebook. It will have to do until I get her real files)
Minnie was the first character we met!

All Keira wanted to do was ride Splash Mountain and get a princess dress.. The girls had cashed in their piggie bank money they have been saving all their lives and Keira had some birthday money. So top of their list was princess dresses. After that purchase at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique we were off to the Carousel. This was our first ride and the kids loved it.

Our next task was Spalsh Mountain. I told the girls all about it beofre we left for our trip that they were really phyched for it. The line was really long so we fastpassed that one. With a couple hours to til our ride time we found the Pooh Bear ride. Ok that's not its real name. Kaylum went on this one and was a little scared. The girls were ahead with my Dad and Sam. While Sean and I and even my Mom took Kaylum. Depiste being scared Kaylum loved it and we went on a second time. Right by the ride we met up with Pooh and Tigger.

I was a little unsure how the kids were going to react to the Disney characters. Kylie doesn't like Chucky Cheese, Kaylum didn't like the Easter Bunny. But when we got our turn with Pooh Bear, they all walked right up to him and had him sign their books. Kaylum gave him five, a hug and then lifted his shirt to show Pooh that they have very similar tummies! It was so cute! It really made my trip. Kaylum was very eager to move onto Tigger and pose for pictures with him.

Kaylum has his "cheese" pose down pat. Can you tell his Mom is a photographer??

So while we were waiting for Splash Mountain we headed to Pirates of the Carribean. This is one of my favorite rides. And if you can believe it, Kaylum fell asleep on it! The girls really enjoyed it and we rode it 2 more times over the course of our stay. We also took the girls into the Haunted House! They were so scared but love it in the end. It was great!

There are so many great hats in Disney. We tried on many. Still think Dad should have got this one!

The time to return to Splash Mountain arrived and we were excited. We left Mom and Kaylum in a shady place and went to get in line! The fast pass worked so great with this ride. We waited 5 minutes when those without fass passes waited 90 minutes! Sam was in the very front and I was behind her, Kylie Dad Keira and Sean took up the rear or also known as, the driest spot on the ride. Sam has a great sequence of photos on this ride, you will have to come back and look.
So being that Sam and I were in the front, we got the wettest. And did Sam every get wet! She was also wearing a white skirt! It was great. We dried fairly quickly, but being soaked to your panites is rather uncomfortable. But it was a blast. The girls absolutley loved it!

Splash Mountain Results
We caught the train after and went back to the hotel for some rest and to refule. We napped and nibbled and made our way back into the park just in time for the fireworks. They are the most imazing display that I have ever seen. Gorgeous! The girls really love fireworks so they were really looking forward to them and Kaylum fell asleep in the middle of the show. I told the girls that Tinker Bell flies over at the end, but they must have changed that because she didn't. Oh well. It was still breath taking!

Our first Disney day ended with a little shopping. I found some treasures for Keira's birthday and all the kids got Mickey ear hats. They also gave me my Mother's Day gift a day early and that was my own set of Mickey ears!

They are something I will never wear again but will always treasure! The back is embroidered with my name, MOM.

Finally back in the room, it was close to 11pm.

Disneyland |Day 1|

2009-05-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

So I promised Disney pictures. I think I am almost done mourning the end of our vacation but I did get another 600+ of Dad's pictures yesterday and made me miss the trip more. It was definalty a trip of a life time. I wanted to blog about it while we were gone, but we were so busy and so tired by the end of the day, it just didn't get to it.

So here are some from day 1. It was a very early start to the day. Our flight left Vancouver at 8:30 am so that made for a 4:30 wake up call for us. The kids did so well and I think the sheer excitement kept us all going (me on 4 hrs sleep!). We parked at the Park and Ride and made our way over the the airport. I have never traveled on a plane with 3 kids before, so it was a real adventure. We had 2 strollers, 7 suitcases, 4 carry-ons, a lap top, diaper bag and a camera bag. We also had my sister and parents, not all that gear was ours.

After passing through security we had some breakfast, little did we know that there was a Tim Hortons a little further down the way from here. We paid waaaaay to much for breakfast! Sean was crushed he missed his Timmy's.

Entertaining the kids on the plane. There was no movie or no napping.

Alright maybe a little napping. Emphasis on little.
All the kids were a dream on the plane, the flight was 3 hours and I wouldn't want it to be much longer. We played cards and scrabble on Dad's DS. Kaylum wandered a little but mostly jumped from lap to lap.

Kaylum was fasinated by looking out the window. On our decent into LA he sat looking for a good half hour if not more.

Finally on the shuttle to Anahiem. This was a long wait for the kids, they knew we were finally there but the wait for the shuttle was long and they were anxious. The poor people on the bus had to listen to Kaylum scream for most of the ride.

We got to the hotel around 2pm and our rooms weren't ready. So we went for lunch at Mimi's it was right across from our hotel and man were we hungry. The food was delicious and I totally recommend you eat there if you are ever at Disneyland. We did have a problem with our hotel rooms not being adjoining and backing onto the freeway, both things we had requested not to have and we did have to discuss things with the manager. But it worked out in the end.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson and despite our hiccup, I would stay there again. But I will pass on this advice, if you have special requests for your hotel, call them. I know our travel agent did and its not her fault at all, something got lost along the way. This hotel has an amazing water park for the kids. And a second pool for a quiter swim. The beds were comfy (in our adjoining rooms) and it was very close to Disney.

We spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing. I think we were all asleep by 9, or just after. It was a long day and we were so excited to get into the park the next day!!

We're home

2009-05-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

If you have been missing me, well I am home from a week in Disneyland. We celebrated Keira's 5th Birthday, Sam's 31st Birthday and Mother's Day as well as our kid's first trip to Disney. It was a fabulous trip, one whose's memories I will treasure always. I have around 650 pictures to go through and Dad has about the same and then add Sam's 400+ and we have a lot of images to go through, so I will leave you with this one.

This is one of the higlights of my trip. Kaylum went right up to Pooh and gave him a high 5 and even hugged him. He wasn't afraid and I was so glad. He then lifted his shirt up and showed Pooh his belly! They looked very simialar! LOL! There is a video, it will be up sometime.
So stay tuned,m, there will be more photos to come!

Gappy

2009-05-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

Last night Kylie lost her other front tooth! We are getting use to the new way she talks. I have to laugh a little at how cute it is. Even is she thinks we are teasing.

Minter Gardens

2009-05-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Friday was a Pro-D day, so I packed up the kids and Grandparents and we headed in Minter Gardens. The weather was awesome I think the car-mometer read 26-27 degrees! The nice thing about Minter is there is lots of shade and lots of places to stop and rest. I think we wandered for around 4 hours. I came home with 340 images and Dad about the same. We picnicked in the gardens and stopped for ice cream on the way home. It was a great day!

Here is a small selection. I was a little tuliped out when we left. But they were all so gorgeous and I loved that there were varieties there that we didn't see at Skagit!

Kaylum put his hat on this way!

My three lovelies, eating. I think they snacked the whole way through the gardens.

The one puddle, Kaylum found!

Beautiful Kylie

Just after Keira smacked the gardener's bum!

Water drops from a fountain.

The lawn is gorgeous and lush, the girls couldn't resist a roll down the hill!

Fuzzy tulip

I want to call it a Fiddlehead but I am not sure if that is the right term. Its a fern.

Tulip Festival

2009-04-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today we played hooky from school and headed down to the Skagit Valley Tulip festival. I have always wanted to go and seeing that bloom time is short, I picked today to go! It was a gorgeous day for an adventure. I took my parents and the kids, Sean had to work and off we went!

We arrived into Tulip Town and was greeted with amazing colour. I have never seen anything like this in my life. I never thought of tulips as a fragrant flower, but put all these thousands together, hmmm. Smelled wonderful!

It was incredibly dusty, so if you go with the kids, bring extra pants and socks and shoes. Here is me, taking one for the team (aka messing up my outfit) to get this beautiful shot:

The girls had a blast picking up the dead heads. They kept counting how many each of them had. But were a little dissapointed that they couldn't bring them home.

Kaylum did amazingly well. He quickly learned after popping a couple heads off my tulips, that they are for smelling, not breaking.

He really had the most fun in the dirt. Picking up big clumps, throwing dirt, sitting in the dirt, laying in the dirt. May have even tasted a little dirt while munching on cookies as well. Everyone walking by thought it was cute. And I got a lot of, oh that's a little boy, comments as well.

It was a gorgeous day, well worth the day off school. The crowd was pretty thin, the weather just right. The wind did pick up just as we were leaving though. They say they will have blooms through to Mother's Day. But I would get there sooner if you are planning on going. Its $5 to get into Tulip Town. And where you are done, you can hit the outlets on the way home!

Say Hello.....

2009-04-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

..... to my little friend.

Glasses

2009-04-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

This week the girls got glasses. We call them sometimes glasses because they don't have to wear them all the time, mostly for close up work. They are for stress relief instead of for clarity issues. They were both very excited to get them. I am glad that they both got them at the same time. Then there are no jealousy issues or anyone feeling left out. The bank account isn't glad, but that's what extended benefits are for! We got the kind of frames that you can bend in half and take some abuse. I can remember getting bashed in the face when I was young and bending or breaking a few pairs and let's face it, with a little boy who has already managed to break a pair of Sean's and my Dad's, this type of frame is a requirement!

OK well there was someone feeling left out. How cute is this!?

Pretty Girl

2009-04-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Kylie went out to a birthday party tonight and Keira was feeling a little left out so I painted her nails and put some makeup on her and did her hair the way she wanted and after dinner Sean took her and Kaylum out for ice cream!

Fastball

2009-04-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

So yeah! A new post! Are you sick of looking at the Hershey's Kiss every time you stop by?

Here you go!

The girls have started playing fastball this year. Its learn to play, so they learn ball skills in a fun environment but don't actually play the game. Its building skills for the future. Sean stepped up to be their coach and they are all having a ball (pun intended).

Today they had their ice breaker tournament. There was a bat-a-thon where they hit the ball off the tee into the field where there were pop bottles lined up and if you hit one, you won a bottle of pop. The kids had fun with that and I got some great shots. I think the girls love hitting the ball the best and they also really love the games that they play. And of course, Coach Dad! They named their team the Green Giants!

I have to say though, one of the cutest moments of the day was when we were done and Sean said lets give high fives and Kaylum ran out onto the field and high-fived everyone on the team!

He also took the tee and set the ball on top, went over to the equipment bag, grabbed a bat and went to work hitting the ball!

I don't know if you will be able to see, maybe click on the picture, but the ball has my name on it! I didn't realize til I came home and was going through the pictures!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T16:09:00.001-07:00

Twit from the Circus

2009-04-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here tonight marveling from the wonders of Twitter. I have only been on Twitter for about a month, but tonight, I was really entertained by it.

The live feed coming out of the Britney Spears concert was amazing! I think I was more entertained from the comfort of my own home by Britney tonight than those who went to her concert and I didn't have to pay for parking.

I also didn't get any work done either.

It started with a RT (re-tweet) from Virgin Radio host Buzz Bishop
RT @Christine44: Brit is sucking big time (in my opinion) sloppy choreography, bad lip synching and she obviously does not want to be here. (Christine44 is a host at GM Place)

This peaked my interest a bit

Then he started RT others at the show:

RT @Christine44: Britney seems to have disapeeared after 3 songs..... Black set. Crowd getting annoyed. I am getting nervous.

@Natasha-lee: OMG - she not performing cause the building is too "smokey". Lol

The tweets were flying across my TweetDeck! Brit refused to sing because fans were smoking. Cigarettes and pot smoke was upsetting the pop princess and she walked off stage in the middle of her fourth song!

I can only image how upset fans were by this. This come back tour was not cheap. But why would you pay $200 + too see someone who admittedly lip syncs her show, and smoke up at the same time!? Listen, if you have money to waste, send me a comment and I can hook you up with my address so you can send it to me instead!!

After a half hour the hissy fit was over and the brat resumed her performance. Her people released a statement (pardon the raunchy drawing) apologizing to the fans.

This post is really about technology, mainly the Twitter phenomenon. I started using it to promote my business but tonight, it took me from it. Sorry K + H. I'm suppose to be editing your wedding pics, but Britney dragged me away. *blush*

Hoppy Easter

2009-04-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

We were at the mall yesterday morning and it just so happened it timed with the arrival of the Easter Bunny. It wasn't done on purpose. The girls wanted to have a visit and Kaylum seemed eager too, he was saying "Bunny, Bunny". The line was short so we went. It was our first visit to the Easter Bunny. That's right, first. I don't really see the point in these photos if you have to wait a long time in a line up, for something you aren't really sure if your kids are going to freak out about by the time you get up there. I don't even wait for Santa.
So we watched the family a head of us plunk their little guy on Bunnie's lap and start wailing. Why?? Its the Easter Bunny. I don't get it. I have never forced my kids to the point of hysterical tears for a picture. I'd rather them happy and smiling with no picture than crying and red and blotchy with a crappy overpriced picture from a photog who couldn't give a crap.
Anyways........
The girls were happy to hop up on the lap, great! Kaylum walked up to the Bunny, saw him and said "NOOOOOO". OK. We picked him up, "NOOOOOO". Fine. He gave him a high 5 and that was that. The girls got their picture. Keira said, " I thought the Easter Bunny was white!" And Kylie said, "Why is he handing out chocolate eggs!? Bunnies don't lay eggs!" I handed over my 10 bucks for the one 5x7 and home we went. LOL!

Hoppy Easter!

New Smile

2009-03-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

This smile is about to forever change. Kylie's top tooth is hanging by a thread and will be out soon! She is wanting it to come out very badly. But I really like those little guys up there. I know she's lost 4 on the bottom, but the top is different. I wonder if she's going to have big top teeth like me, that took a real long time to grow into. Oh, I hope not. Stayed tuned. The gappy smile shall be reviled sometime this week.

Flour | Part 2

2009-03-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

You are going to think I don't watch my kids very well, but here it is. Mr K got into the flour AGAIN!
I was in the same room AGAIN! But this time he snuck into the pantry while I was googling the deadly ERROR 99 that my camera so lovingly gave me yesterday, pulled off the lid to the flour and had a little flour party in the pantry. UGH!!

He was kicking and screaming and flailing around when I pulled him out of the closet and I had to give him a banana to get him out of the closet to vaccum it up.

18 Months!!

2009-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

WOW! My little guy is 18 months old today! Time is flying by. We enjoy Kaylum so much. Having a boy toddler in the house is much different than girl toddlers. He is so much more active and curious. Kaylum has a great laugh, we all love to hear it and his smile is infectious.
His vocabulary is awesome. He waves and says bye bye and says hi to random strangers. Momma and Dadda are his most used and MORE! Kaylum says TOO when he wants what you have. Birdy, fishy, doggie and kitty are his favorite animal words. Kaylum gets very excited when he sees any of those animals while we are out. He loves the zoo and knows the baby giraffe will give him kisses if he is at the platform. I can't imagine our world without this amazing little guy and in fact barely remember the world without him!

Here is as a sample of Kaylum's life these days courtesy of my crappy camera phone:

|Waiting for his sister to get out of school. Papa taught him how to put his hands in his pocket!|

|Table Dancing|

|Bike Riding|

|Swimming|

|First Fever|

|Naps while snacking|

|Hat model|

|Happy Dude!|

Keira Sings Queen

2009-03-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

In light of Cathy's post about her Queen fan, I dug this one out of the archives! This is about 2 years old, so Keira would have been about 3. Its so freakin' cute. I still love to watch it. I just showed it to Keira and she said, who's that!? LOL!

We still love to sing this verse in the song. My sister taught it to the girls. We didn't teach them the rest of the song. It just didn't seem appropriate! LOL!

Flour Boy: Lessons for Mommy

2009-03-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

After lunch today I decided to make the girls some muffins for after school snack. I was rushing a bit as I was under an hour before I had to get Kylie. Keira was playing upstairs and Kaylum was happily playing in the kitchen. Then he was quietly playing in the kitchen. He was right behind me. When I turned around, this is what I find him doing.

I found it rather amusing even though he was making a huge mess. But he was very content pulling the flour out of the bin and sprinkling it around.
I went and grabbed my other camera and came back into the kitchen only to find him laying in the flour pile and making swimming movements!

Uh Mom? Is there something on my face?

After his "swim"

Then he grabbed the wet cloth to help clean up. YUCK!

Today's Mommy lesson: close the lid on the flour container better! Hey this is a recession, that stuff's not cheap! LOL!

Let me also mention. I had 20 minutes before I had to pick Kylie up when I discovered this. I had to get it all cleaned up, clean up Kaylum and make sure the muffins didn't burn! And we did it!

Re-decorating

2009-03-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I went into Kaylum's room to get him dressed and this is what I found!!

Thankfully I have plenty left over to fix this and I knew that it would happen sooner or later. Kylie did the same thing when she was around this age. Now when he sees it he says, Uh OH!

Just like Dad

2009-03-05T23:31:00.001-08:00

I get a kick out of this one because its the exact expression that Sean has on his face at times too. Its not overly flattering but I thought it was cute because its just like Dad!

Silly Girl

2009-03-04T22:54:00.000-08:00

I was doing some lighting practice the other day while Keira was doing some funny face practice.

Cathy's on TV!

2009-03-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

My friend Cathy will be on Urban Rush today talking about her Boudoir Photography! I am so excited for her and can't wait to watch the show. So be sure to check her out on Channel 4 at 5pm, 7pm and 11pm and if you miss her today, the show runs again tomorrow at noon!! Way to go Cathy!!

The Girl's First Competition

2009-03-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from yesterday's competition. Kylie places 2nd in this dance and 5th in the other one. Poor Keira went home with just a participation ribbon but we were so proud of her! She did really well for her first time!

My Highland Lassies

2009-02-27T23:37:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a very important day in our house. Well besides it being Sean's birthday, its the girl's first dancing competition. They are very excited to dance tomorrow and have been counting down for days. They want to win a trophy or a medal. I will just be happy if they get on stage and complete both dances.

Tonight we got their kilts on and had a little photo shoot. Don't ask why I don't have one of them together, it never occurred to me. DUH!

Lucy I Life

2009-02-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

Check out what my friends at Lucy Lime are up to!

Silly Dog

2009-02-26T10:31:00.001-08:00

Our dog is forever seeking a sunny warm place to lay down in. The other day I caught her here basking.

More Snow

2009-02-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well we really got dumped on yesterday! More snow!? UGH! I am still traumatized from our last dump at Christmas time. Kaylum was very excited to see it and this morning when he got up he kept pointing outside saying "NO!" He wouldn't let me carrying him this morning when we were taking Kylie into school. He wanted to get down and touch the NO.

The funny thing about this snow, is that just a little ways to the west, its green! Sean sent me a picture from Vancouver this morning and nothing. But the sun is shining and soon the rain will be back!

Big Sisters....

2009-02-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

.....teach little brothers bad habits!

Ducks Galore!

2009-02-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

This week has been super busy. But yesterday was a Pro-D day, so we took a fun day trip with my parents. We went to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner. Its been a lot of years since we've been and while not much has changed, it was a whole new experience going with the kids.

There were hundreds of ducks to greet us in the parking lot. They were very hungry, it was almost like they hadn't eaten in days! I think ducks are the piggies of the bird world!!

The kids loved feeding the birds, especially Kaylum. He wasn't scared at all of the large swarm around him.

We stopped to eat our lunch at one of the observation towers and there were a couple ladies hanging around up there. This one was rather friendly. Her friend was interested in my sandwich until she caught a whiff of the egg and left.

But as you can see, the ducks are rather tame. I don't know if that's a good thing. But it makes for a neat experience.

I love chickadees but they are so fast! They don't sit still for long.

The walk was long but the kids did great! Kaylum wanted to walk most of the time. I think we left him walk about half the way and then we locked him down. Otherwise I think we would still be there! I forgot how slow walking with a toddler is.

If you can believe it, we met up with some good friends! We didn't know they would be there, but Keira spotted them from quite a ways away. I thought she just saw someone with the same jacket! So they climbed up the observation tower together with my Dad. Apparently there was a great view. LOL!

This was a great trio of Sandhill Cranes we came upon. We have seen them at the zoo many times but it was neat to see them in the wild. You would think they were some famous celebrity family with the group of paparazzi surrounding them! Dad and I had really bad lens envy when we saw some of the gear these guys were packing. We were asked not to drool on the lens. LOL!

Late for School

2009-02-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

Even though we were running a tad bit late for school this morning, I couldn't let this photo op pass me by, that's why its taken with Kylie's camera. LOL! The girls were just sitting there waiting for me and Kaylum went and skootched in right next to them. CUTE!!

Milk and Candy♦

2009-02-12T22:14:00.000-08:00

So what do you do when you need a wee model to cooperate, so you can try something out? Well you feed him M & M's of course!!

And then he washes it down with a bit of milk!

Happy Birthday Kylie!

2009-02-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Our first child made her way into this world 6 years ago today and forever changed our lives. I have been a Mom for 6 years today. The longest and best job (most days) I have ever had.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLIE! WE LOVE YOU!